Another reason to avoid Union St. Between a single lane each way, the double parked vehicles, and the cyclists that are taking up a full lane and going awfully slow as a result of the hill, Union is one of the worst streets in the area to use. Whenever possible, I use 9th St.

A little vent - Why can't cyclists stick to Berkeley and Lincoln which have bike lanes and are safer for everyone involved, including pedestrians trying to cross?

Southeast, I agree that cyclists should use the lanes on Berkeley and Lincoln, especially going uphill. That said, it's entirely within their/our rights to use the entire lane to avoid being squished into parked cars by impatient drivers, as I do when getting from 7th Ave to the Food Coop . ;)

@scrollie Agree 100%; cyclists have the right to, and should, use a full lane, particularly in tight spaces. I cycle in that area as well, but I try to stick to bike lanes as much as possible.

I've seen cyclists going the full length of Union, not just a block or so to get to a destination which is on Union (i.e., the Coop). If cyclists (me included) want non-cyclists to respect them, cyclists have to respect non-cyclists. One way to do so is, wherever possible, avoid inconveniencing non-cyclists. Cyclists don't always need to prove the point that they have the 'right;' it's counterproductive.

Whenever I am driving through, I feel like I want to roll down my window and mention to cyclists that there is a bike lane one block over; however, I know they won't appreciate it, to say the least.

@southeast, I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets the urge to tell people to detour a block or two for their own health and safety. Also, bikers stop dressing all in black and riding at night without reflectors AND lights. No one can see you, especially on streets with lots of trees and shadows. That goes for you too skateboarders.

homeowner, as a cyclist I rarely take Union because it is indeed unpleasant, but sometimes it's just the most practical route for the trip I'm taking (especially when coming taking the bridge from the other side of the Gowanus to somewhere beyond Grand Army Plaza, where taking a road with a bike lane would require multiple diversions), and I need to control the lane to avoid being doored. If you don't enjoy the speed at which I travel, I'd be glad to sign your petition to remove the uphill parking lane for a bike lane— a more-complete, easily-legible bike network benefits everyone.

But it's not my responsibility to memorize meandering, out-of-the-way side routes everywhere in the city because drivers are too impatient to share the road in a dense urban neighborhood where only the minority of households own cars.

Oh, and I for one am glad that they're building more rich people housing within rich people neigborhoods rather than relying on vacant lots and displacement in our neighborhood to take up all of Brooklyn's population growth. I'm also glad they're replacing auto parking with housing, of which our city is desperately short.

Ah, but you perhaps forget... Rich people, and the capitalists who cater to their desires, have greater access to lobbyists and thus greater sway with politicians than do poor people. The rich will almost certainly win out in the end. If they have to tear down affordable housing in order to build parking garages, that is what will happen.

@ehgee, afraid you're attributing that to the wrong person. I didn't suggest a petition, but was the one agreeing that I'd like to suggest people take a different route, especially when I see people laboring and looking less under control. Perhaps one where they didn't have to worry as much about getting doored? As for memorizing meadering out of the way routes, its usually the next block over or maybe two depending on which direction you're riding in (that grid thing usually makes it pretty easy to figure out).

As for the building of more rich people housing, I don't mind it. I just wish it was accompanied by the building of schools, hospitals, and seniors housing as the neighborhood will probably have more young people and old people in the comming years than it does now.

@homeowner, your theoretical petition was my rhetorical device, not a genuine suggestion. But my point is that Union Street is unpleasant for bicyclists and drivers alike because the city chooses to use around half of its space for the free or lost-cost storage of private autos, not because of bicyclists making poor choices.

And Park Slope does have two new public elementary schools (the new one built on Fourth Ave, and the old Aquinas school), and I see a new high school under construction at Union Square, which will serve Park Slope considering that NYC kids often commute to middle & high schools.

Back to the original subject, the parking garage's closure, I think the biggest issue will be the displacement of all of those cars. I don't own a car, but think about how much worse street parking is going to get when they displace a few hundred monthly parkers. Yes, there's the garage at Union near PPW, the one on Flatbush near 8th (next to the Chase) and some others, but I doubt that there are enough garages with sufficient capacity to take them all in. Plus this was a nice, centrally-located Zipcar garage, so we'll potentially lose those Zipcars from the neighborhood.

"The building, at 800 Union Street, will actually shrink in square footage during the process, with its initial 52,897 square feet being reduced to only 51,709 square feet. The latter figure will include 7,248 square feet of ground floor retail, with another 44,461 square feet divided between 28 condominiums, averaging a very spacious 1,600 square feet apiece.

While large apartments are by no means a bad thing, these will likely sell for astronomical prices that would not be so inevitable if Park Slope were more accommodating to larger new developments. Parking lots and garages fall at the very bottom of the list of things that are good for New York City and its citizens, and if anything, the existing building’s conversion should be applauded (and the end-result should have been far larger, as well).

In terms of appearance, the garage will dramatically improve. Parts of the old brickwork will be stripped away for metal accents, which will also crown the refurbished structure. Most importantly, the first floor will yield to retail space, further enlivening a block that is also home to the Park Slope Food Coop.

Job applications list Christian Zambrano of Sibertekture as the architect, and per the Daily News, Lewis Meltzer is both the owner and developer."

yeah.....i have little sympathy for the north slopers. for one, they're fretting over the fate of their subarus, not themselves. also i just hate cars and wish to see fewer of them. i'm a cyclist and i rarely bike through the slope because the traffic is somehow even worse than it is in flatbush--i think the drivers are just a wee bit more entitled.

besides; i'd be PSYCHED to see a beatiful condo conversion-from-old-building in flatbush. in my neck of the woods all we have to talk about is which of the proposed Karl Fischer buildings is uglier